6 Ways to Improve Your Company’s Facebook Page Today

Marketing your business on Facebook is something your customers expect. It’s also a no- to low-cost way to boost your brand awareness, and an effective one at that. Worldwide, there are over 1.86 billion active Facebook users, and that number increases 17 percent each year.

But simply registering an account and posting intermittently isn’t enough. If you want to build a strong following on Facebook, you need a strategy and specific steps to reach your goals.

Here are some ways to take your page to the next level.

Post current, original content.

Once you lose the interest of your followers, it can be hard to gain it back. So, if you share the same viral video or infographic that they’ve already seen all over their feeds, it’s going to compromise your credibility. That’s why it’s so important to post only timely, engaging content.

If possible, it’s preferable to post fewer pieces of high-quality content that you have produced rather than filling up your page with photos, videos, and information from other sources.

Use images alongside well-conceived words.

Posting a short sentence about a new product or a sale on its own won’t get you traction online. To grab your followers’ attention, you need to post high-quality images that highlight your merchandise and entice customers to buy it. Posts that include compelling images result in 94 percent more total views on average than posts without images.

Once you’ve captured the right image or video, include a call to action such as “shop today.” When relevant, include timely lines for extra motivation, such as “items are going fast” or “the sale ends soon”.

Time posts strategically.

What you post is important, but so is when you post it. It’s hard to nail down the best days and times to post on a social network. So much of it depends on your specific audience and is also very dependent on the current version of the Facebook algorithm.

You can get ahead by analyzing your own post history for the best days and times to share future content. Take a close look at your posts based on two metrics: views and engagement (clicks, likes, shares and comments). Remember to account for multiple time zones if your followers are spread out across the world. Once you’ve determined the days and times when your posts receive the best responses, you can better plan when to publish based on your goals.

Boost selected posts.

One of the best things about Facebook is that it’s free. But, like most things in business, it works even better when you put a little money behind it. Facebook for Business allows you to “boost” your posts with ad spends that target users by age, location, interests and more.

To do this, choose the post you want to highlight and then select the audience, the amount you want to spend and the desired duration of the campaign. If you need help, check out the Facebook Help Centre.

Create exclusive offers for followers.

When you’re competing with all the other brands vying for attention on Facebook, it helps to prove your worth to your followers. One of the best ways to do that is to offer special discount codes and items that you publicize only on Facebook. It’s a great way to make your followers feel like insiders and to thank them for their loyalty.

Test and adjust.

Once you devise a Facebook strategy, be sure to allow it to evolve. Pay attention to what kinds of posts get traction, and what falls flat. Facebook is always changing, so keep up on new features and take advantage of new options, such as the “call to action” button on the header page.

What works for other brands might not work for yours, so keep a close eye on your data and keep experimenting until you get a feel for when your audience responds and what types of posts resonate with them.